Bluetooth devices such as Bluetooth speakers, smart locks, and various smart Bluetooth sensors and wearable devices, have become widely used in many applications. Frequently multiple Bluetooth devices are present in the same area for a variety of uses. Since the application interface for each of the Bluetooth devices may be different, a user of a Bluetooth-enabled client device, such as a smart phone or personal computer, may need to access various application interfaces in order to control the different Bluetooth devices. The process of managing the Bluetooth devices can be cumbersome when the number of Bluetooth devices controlled by the client device increases. Thus, a more user-friendly solution for controlling multiple Bluetooth devices is desired.
Further, as Bluetooth technology is designed for low power and low cost operation, the communication range of Bluetooth devices is typically quite short. For example, the typical communication range of Bluetooth devices, such as between a smart phone and a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) sensor, is limited to tens of meters in open space and a few meters inside a house, and the Bluetooth transmission typically cannot penetrate walls. The short communication range limits the use of Bluetooth devices in scenarios where longer communication range is required.
Conventional schemes to increase wireless communication range typically involve increasing the transmission power or antenna gain on both sides of the radio frequency transmission. However, for Bluetooth devices, especially the BLE sensors and wearable devices, increasing the transmission power or antenna gain of the devices is often impractical and would defeat the design goal of low power and low cost Bluetooth devices. Thus, it is desired to extend the communication range of Bluetooth devices without having to increase the transmission power or production cost of the Bluetooth devices.